Large-scale solar, wind and hydrogen projects are helping transform the Taklimakan Desert from a dead land into a source of clean electricity for Xinjiang.
Solar panels at a power plant in Luopu County. Photo: Xinhua
Through a variety of environmentally friendly approaches, the Taklimakan, once known as the “sea of death,” China’s largest desert and the world’s second-largest shifting sand desert, has become a key base for clean energy development in the northwest region’s Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region. In recent years, many solar power plants have been built alongside plantations of plants such as roses and cistanche on the edge of the giant desert. This transformation has turned the Taklimakan into a center of sustainable development, CGTN reported on June 18.
Tian Juxiong, director of the power plant in Luopu County, Hotan Prefecture, regularly checks the solar power generation system and monitors the daily operation of the equipment via a control screen. According to Tian, the southern part of the Taklimakan Desert benefits from low rainfall and abundant sunlight, providing 1,600 hours of power generation per year.
Operated by the Power Investment Company, the plant has a total installed capacity of 200 megawatts (MW), generating 360 million kWh of electricity annually. The plant can meet the residential electricity needs of 25.9 million residents in Xinjiang for about 10 days. Each year, the plant saves 110,000 tons of standard coal, reduces 330,000 tons of carbon dioxide and 1,300 tons of nitrogen dioxide. The project is also equipped with an energy storage system with a capacity of 80,000 kWh. In rainy conditions, when the plant cannot produce electricity, the storage system acts as a power bank, providing energy for about two hours.
Most solar and wind power plants in the south of the autonomous region are equipped with storage systems to ensure a stable supply of renewable energy, according to Yu Zhongping, a researcher at the Xinjiang branch of the state grid.
In the city of Khoxa, on the northwestern edge of the Taklimakan Desert, a green hydrogen project is about to begin operations with a production capacity of 20,000 tonnes upon completion. Solar power will replace fossil fuels in hydrogen production, according to Cao Jie, deputy general manager of Sinopec Tahe Chemical and Refining Co.
China aims to promote the construction of large-scale solar and wind power plants in desert areas, develop hydropower infrastructure, and explore and utilize biomass, thermal power, and ocean energy in its five-year plan (2021-2025), according to the National Development and Reform Commission.
By May 2023, the total installed capacity of renewable energy in southern Xinjiang will exceed 8,400 MW, and new power generation facilities with an additional capacity of 8,259 MW are under construction, according to Ding Biwei, who is in charge of connecting new energy to the grid in the Xinjiang branch. As the grid is gradually connected around the Tarim Basin, clean energy will not only supply Xinjiang but also contribute to the goal of zero carbon emissions.
An Khang (According to CGTN )
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